Saturday, March 29, 2008

Warriors at British Sombo Open

Sittingbourne Warriors Grappling Academy once again dominated British Sombo Wrestling by winning a total of 6 Gold’s, 5 Silver and 5 Bronzes, that is 6 out of the 15 titles went to a warrior member an unbelievable achievement. It was the junior section of the warriors that kept the club as the No 1 club in the country with their magnificent achievement. In two categories they took all three places.
14 year old Ashley Jordan won the lightweight cat u30 kilo having some stiff competition from the Germans, Liam Allen has improved a great deal in the last few months and looks to become another regular medal winner he won Gold u35 kilo, Ben Franks Gold u40 kilo he along with Jamie Marzetti Gold u74 kilo are both very successful medal winners and are prepared to travel any where in GB and Europe to compete both are participating in the IBF Multi Nation Judo Championships Holland in May. Jamie now training with the adults has shown a great improvement. All the boys are members of the Young Judo Club as well and are very lucky for they have the chance to compete in many different style of grappling such as Judo, Kurash, Sombo, Belt wrestling, Freestyle Wrestling no other club in GB offers all these styles. With youngsters today more interested in Computers, music, cloths and booze you have to admire these boys for keeping up a very hard competitive sport.
Our seniors did not fare so well this year mainly because of the exceptional high standard of the foreign contingent, the club also fielded several new fighters who although unplaced did exceptional well. Danny Carrott won Gold in the u90 kilo class this what the local people wanted to see men’s u90 kilo class . Last July Warriors Coach travelled the Scottish Open and in the final of the u90k was soundly beaten by local Scotsman Johannes Alder, John’s pride was very dented but this defeat did him good as he trained extra hard to put up one of his best ever performance in the Worlds. John wanted revenge but a knee injury prevented him from entering. So it was decided to put 21 year old Danny Carrott up a weight to take on Johannes who I might add has been 6 times British Champion. At 35 Johannes has loads of experience but although only 21 Danny is no slouch he has had several International caps as well as represent GB in the 2007 World Championships. The fight would very tactical as both players knew one little mistake would be their defeat, the match was set for 5 minutes and as expected both players were very cagey but no one would have thought that with only 5 seconds on the board there would no score. Then it happened a momentary loss of concentration on the behalf of Johannes and Danny was in catching his opponent with 2 pt side drop throw to take the title as you can imagine there was a great deal of celebration in the crowd but Johannes was gracious in defeat and congratulated Danny. Johannes has been a great champion but the old must make way for the young. Karl Swindle a Brown Belt Judo player had his first outing in Sombo he won Bronze in Men’s o 100 kilo plus and then Gold in the Veterans on each occasion he two beat 2 x World Masters bronze medallist Darren Richardson in his last match it was with a 12 point victory.

Our next big event is at the Swallows Sittingbourne on April 20th Young Judo Club Open then of to Holland in May. The highest placed player can also take part in the EU Sambo Wrestling Championships in Bulgaria in September; Danny Carrott has secured his place for the World Championships in Russian during November 2008 but will most probably be asked to drop to u82 kilo.

John Clarke Warriors Coach has had a great honour bestowed upon him the World federation for Kurash has asked each Country to select athletes to go on an all expenses trip to Uzbekistan to participate in there bi-annual World Prize money Kurash Tournament only athletes who are World class can participate and John was the first choice of the British Kurash federation. Sadly John who is a PE Teacher at Sittingbourne Community College can not go for two reasons 1) niggled knee injure 2) it during school term and he feels his first duty is to his pupils and his school

Anyone interested in Judo Sombo etc can contact us on www.youngjudoclub.co.uk www.sittingbourne.org youngjudoclub@yahoo.co.uk or visit Swale martial arts club East Street Sittingbourne

results British open Sombo 23 rd march 2008
ASHLEY JORDAN
U30
GOLD
BCSA WARRIORS
ENGLAND
LIAM ALLEN
U35
GOLD
BCSA WARRIORS
ENGLAND
FRAZER STEVENS
SILVER
BCSA WARRIORS
ENGLAND
CIARAN MILLS
BRONZE
BCSA WARRIORS
ENGLAND
BEN FRANKS
U40
GOLD
BCSA WARRIORS
ENGLAND
LIAM ALLEN
SILVER
BCSA WARRIORS
ENGLAND
MAX HALL
BRONZE
BCSA WARRIORS
ENGLAND
KIERAN ALLEN
u45
SILVER
BCSA WARRIORS
ENGLAND
BEN GLUCK
u55
SILVER
BCSA WARRIORS
ENGLAND
KIERAN ALLEN
BRONZE
BCSA WARRIORS
ENGLAND
JAMIE MARZETTI
U74
GOLD
BCSA WARRIORS
ENGLAND
BEN GLUCK
men u62
BRONZE
BCSA WARRIORS
ENGLAND
KEIRAN DANIELS
u74
SILVER
BCSA WARRIORS
ENGLAND
EDGAR KUDZHOYAN
BRONZE
DYNAMO GLASGOW
SCOTLAND
DANNY CARROTT
U90
GOLD
BCSA WARRIORS
ENGLAND
CARL SWINDELL
o100
BRONZE
BCSA WARRIORS
ENGLAND
VETERANS
CARL SWINDELL
HEAVY
GOLD
BCSA WARRIORS
ENGLAND

Friday, March 07, 2008

CRB REJECTS IBF

CRB Reference 23490200003
Friday, 07 March 2008
To; David Shannon
CRB Registration Unit

Dear Mr Shannon

I have just received your letter stating that our organisation doesn't meet the condition of registration i.e. has less then 100 disclosures per year, can I first point out that when we paid our registration fee some years ago nothing was mentioned about numbers so therefore I suggest we have not broken any condition. Also I do not see what numbers have to do with matters it is no more expensive dealing with a small organisation like ourselves then it is dealing with a larger one or is just about putting money into larger organisation pockets.
At present my coaches etc pay nothing for their CRB check to go through another organisation would cost anything fro £30 to £100 why should these people give up their time and energy helping Young People for nothing have to pay. Most feel insulted that they even have to be subjected to a CRB Check; they feel they are assumed to be perverts because they dare to want to work with children and only a CRB check can prove they are decent people or Guilty till proven innocent.
From now on our organisation will not insist on a CRB check for our coaches we will only recommend that they get one and if they do not have the funds so be it. One wonders how many other organisations will do the same making the CRB somewhat of an irrelevance. The CRB has become a vehicle for people to make money and a way create more jobs for the bureaucrats .


Yours a very disappointed and disillusioned



Martin Clarke



Monday, February 18, 2008

Sombo Wrestling Course 2008




Sombo Wrestling Introduction Course
Warriors Grappling Academy
Swale Martial Arts Club
Sittingbourne

February 17th 2008
It has been many years since we have had a Sombo wrestling Course at the club due to the fact that Grandmaster Martin Clarke who took all the courses has been forced into retirement with bad hip and knee injury. His son John British Team Captain and Colin Carrott World Masters bronze medallist have taken over his mantle and organise plus taught at this course. The course drew people from all over the country and with one of the Countries Martial Arts Magazine taking an interest in Sombo by publishing articles on the sport we are seeing an upsurge in interest. From this course we had enquiries to organise the same in Bedford, London and Nottingham in all a very successful weekend. The next big event on the Sombo calendar is the British Open held on Easter Sunday at the swallows leisure centre Sittingbourne
For further information on Sombo go http://www.britishsombo.co.uk/ or IBFBCSA@yahoo.co.uk

More Photo’s of the course got http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/IBFBCSA/SomboCourse2008

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Blue and white found equal in judo

A good friend of mine from Bredgar YJC USA sent me the following article. Judo is crash diving to oblivion and this was what a researcher thought important??


Blue and white found equal in judo


Wed Feb 13, 2008 1:55 AM GMT
By Michael Kahn
LONDON (Reuters) - The color of a judoka's suit plays no part in the outcome of a match, British researchers say.
Previous studies showing blue judo uniforms provided a competitive edge over white ones were flawed, the researchers said on Wednesday.
An examination of 501 gold-medal finals in international competitions between 1996 and 2005 showed that the color of the uniform worn by the winner was split evenly between blue and white, the study found.
"We focused on judo but the finding may have wider implications for sports in general," said Peter Dijkstra, an behavioral biologist at the University of Glasgow, who led the study. "We show there is no color association for a winning bias."
Past studies had suggested that contestants in blue had an advantage because the color was more intimidating, or that the white competitor might be more visible, allowing an opponent to better anticipate his movements.
However, Dijkstra said those studies did not take into account that higher seeded -- and therefore more skilled -- competitors wore the blue uniforms. So it made sense that they would win more often, he said.
Previous research also looked at the loser's bracket, which could have skewed the results because competitors who lost early were likely to have less confidence and be more prone to another defeat, Dijkstra said.
In the study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Biological Sciences, Dijkstra and colleagues adjusted for these factors by factoring in only gold-medal matches.
"Seeded athletes are top ranked and have a very high chance of winning," he said in a telephone interview. "They are more likely to wear blue so this automatically creates a winning bias. Athletes in blue are simply better."
The researchers looked only at judo but said the findings would likely be the same in other individual combat sports such as wrestling, boxing and taekwondo.
The same might hold true for team sports, though factors such as the number of players on a field or court could affect visibility and make color less important, Dijkstra said.
The findings could also help to ensure a more level playing field in other combat sports in which a competitor wore red -- a color associated with dominance, fear and aggression that actually might confer an advantage, the researchers added.
"Our findings have implications for sports policy makers: they suggest that white-blue outfit pairing ensures an equal level of play," the researchers wrote.

Saturday, February 02, 2008

EJU want to change rules of Judo

UchiKomi Doug recently sent me some details of some proposed EJU rule changes, he has listed below his opinion, what do you think?


The EJU is considering the following changes to the current contest rules:
Ippon for osae-komi after 20 seconds, contrary to the current 25
Abolishment of koka
Abolishment of any hand sign for the referee to indicate shido
Abolishment of the 1 referee and 2 judges, reduction to a sole referee per mat
Abolishment of the equation that 2 waza-ari equal 1 ippon, with now the number of waza-ari during a contest becoming unlimited just like it is now for koka and yuko
UCHIKOMI REPLIES
It is time we got rid of all those ridiculous Japanese terms, Judo is now an international sport not some sort of ancient Japanese ritual. Score like they do in Sambo/Sombo 1pt indicated thumb, 2pts two fingers, 4pts 4 fingers, Total Victory like Ippon. No verbal commands referee wears blue and red armband, Bout startrs and stops on a whistle.The reason Judo Competition is on the decline is that the rules have made it boring to watch and compete in. Sombo/Sambo is on the increase because it is exciting to watch and compete in, something Judo was 20 years ago.I suggest that all Judoka keep to the philosophy and Kata of Judo but take up Sombo/Sambo competition

Monday, January 28, 2008

Nuala has her say on Mixed Sex Judo

As I have said I will always welcome comments from readers so long as they are constructive and they following is from Fionnula Brenchley-Sayer 1st Dan

Hi Martin I know I am out of touch but I assume that junior coaching is stillmixed? If as Richard says there could be a liability issue over this, why would it be different for training. Personally I don't think it would be a good idea to mix the sexes for competition But I assume this is down to lack of numbers and stopping the joke of getting a medal without a fight.
I fail to see how this could be achieved in training. Most clubs would struggleto separate the sexes. But there is more contact in training, lesssupervision (look at how many people are looking as 2 players in competition) and surely more likelihood of injury. Hope this is not the thin end of the wedge as far as juniors are concerned. I believe that as the female players get older they benefit from being coached as women. I tried to fight like the men in competition and train like you all, it doesn't work. Some people do not like it but there are physiological and physiological differences between the sexes andcoaching should (in my opinion) reflect this. I have watched many girls/youngwomen in competition trying to use upper body strength like the men andfailing. Like in schooling I believe girls/women would benefit, if not flourish,from tailored coaching possible even separating them. Unfortunatelythere are not enough women in judo to do this. But maybe this is the cause? Women and young women may not feel confident or comfortable fighting with men. I think this may discourage them. Just a thought, hope you don't mind an "outsider" commenting.
Thanks
Nuala

Friday, January 18, 2008

NO TO MIXED SEX JUDO

As I mentioned in a previous Blog I was unhappy about mixed sex Judo tournaments, since then I have contacted Prof Richard Bailey one of the countries leading experts in children and sport and has sent me a reply which is can be seen below, also I contacted the British judo Association which is the governing body for the sport and they do not condone mixed sex competitions, because of this the IBF insurers will not insure any mixed sex event.

Dear MartinI would be very cautious about organising mixed competitive sport with any children older than 8 years old of age.The key biological event in human growth is puberty, and this results in what is known as a growth spurt which means a rapid and often unpredictable increase in physical growth. At the same time, there are the well-known psychological issues associated with unexpected growth, and these can be made more severe when boys and girls are close together.Before puberty there is very little physical difference between boys and girls. If anything, girls have a slight advantage. However puberty changes everything. Girls enter puberty between 9-13 years of age, boys a little later. Although in the real world there probably will not be serious health risk of putting together boys and girls, some of whom are experiencing rapid growth, there is always the chance. I suspect a sports organisation would be very vulnerable if an accident occurred, and it was suggested that one of the players was biologically a child, and the other was on the way to adulthood.Personally, I can see nothing wrong with mixed sports before puberty, and this would mean 8 and under. After that time, it becomes unwise to assume that a 9 or 10 year old is not experiencing a growth spurt and therefore is not significantly bigger and stronger than his or her peers.I hope this helps.Best Wishes,Richard BaileyDirectorRoehampton University Child Wellbeing Institute (CWI)

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Academy of Coaching

It seems the Academy of Coaching has been mentioned on some Forum of other and I have several email asking for details so I have put a piece on the IBF web site for those who are interested. For those interested in contributing to this Blog you can contact me on IBFBCSA@yahoo.co.uk, this is to prevent libelous and inaccurate information appearing as has happened in the past
http://www.budo-ibf.co.uk/AOC%20Newsletter.htm

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Radburn was visibly scared by CK

I received an email of an article that appeared on Judo Forum, It seems CK is besotted by me as he has posted yet another article on me and how wicked I am, as I have said before I know longer subscribe to this Forum as it allows anonymous people to write anything with out allowing us to quantify who they are and what they have done. Once again a true Budoka would not hide behind an alias, on the whole I receive little comments but just recently a couple have appeared with out Names, Grades etc, if you want to make a comment join my Blog but you have to give your full name etc.

There was one piece in CK’s diatribe that I have copied below please read and I quote from his article

“In the Blog, further tendentious information is claimed to attract support. For example, it is said that I ridiculed Paul Radburn. I originally wrote specifically about a fight and used the terms that he would have received "free flying lessons" or something similar. The terminology was used to express the huge difference in control over a fight and the fact that in this case, Radburn hardly was a moment on his feet. If what i wrote was untrue, one could accuse me of maliciousness, but it wasn't. I will provide the specific details, so that those who were present can verify it for themselves. It happened on the European Championships in the -95 kg in his bout against Vande Walle. Vande Walle played with him, and I still have various pictures from that bout which would underpin my my report. In fact, Radburn was visibly scared during that fight, and for good reason. I cannot imagine that Radburn himself would deny that he flew more through the air than that he was on his feets. The fact that you once lose a fight and lose it big time, is no rejection of a person's career or skills. We all have had opponents where we had a hard time establishing control against. Moreover, losing from Van de Walle is not a dishonour, I would think. At the end of the day, what I wrote, was nothing but the truth, and I wrote in response to nothing else than what the person falsely claimed himself, and I only referred to information available in the public domain, with the exception of my own first-hand experiences, which did not further reveal any private details about the person.”

Now I know both players mentioned and have trained with both and will now say at the time they were two of the best in the World, with regard to the fight mentioned I was not present but any body who has met PAUL RADBURN will know he is not scared of anything and one thing he would not do would be show his fear, so why did CK even mention this if were not to discredit Radburn. If he were so frightened why did he beat him in other tournaments. I have lost contact with Paul if anyone knows where he is send him this article

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

UKCC RESPOND

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

I have had some correspondance with the UKCC which I have attached below, I did ask if it was OK to place the email on my Blog. I have first attached a summary from the UKCC which explains there position, my own opinion is they have been very open and honest which is a good sign

Please note that UKCC is not an organisation. Sports Coach UK has been identified as the lead agency for the development of coaching and we work with the sports to develop their UKCC awards.We ENDORSE these awards against an agreed set of criteria. All awards to press are also qualifications on the National Qualifications Framework.


Dear Mr. Clarke
I have been alerted to your recent correspondence concerning the UKCC and would just like to elaborate on our reponse a little. With regards to the licence - there is no suggestion at this moment in time that a licence or any licence would become a legal requirement. We have commisssioned research into the feasibility of a licensing scheme for sport, with no preconceptions whatsoever as to whether or not a national licensing scheme is feasible or even desirable, and whether it would be administered by the sports themselves or by an independent body. Many people feel that professional regulation of sport is desirable and indeed I have had several communications from people in martial arts urging tighter regulation of 'coaches'. As I'm sure you are aware there have been several high profile cases recently of child abuse in sport. However at present this is very much an employment/deployment issue. If we take my own sport we do have a licence to practice, and without that it would be difficult for me to gain insurance. Nonetheless if I am able to gain employment without it I am able to do so. Local authorities and clubs hwoever are incresingly vigilant, understandably so, over who they employ.Re. the UKCC - I have considerable sympathy with your views here. I worked for a long time in the arts industry myself and have promoted the similarities here on many occasions. When the UKCC was first mooted there were suggestions of generic coaching courses but these were not generally welcomed by the sports themselves and as we were instructed to work with and through NGBs the UKCC became a sport specific award. There are many vested interets in the sporting world!However the coaching process / coaching skills content at each level of the award is the same across sports - the key point is that theory and practice is integrated, that theory is applied. If you have a level in one sport then you should be able to apply the coaching knowledge in another sport once you have picked up the technical content, which is not that far away from your own suggestion. Please get back to me if you have any further queries or points you wish to raise.


My Reply
Thank you for the reply and taking an interest in my point of view, What you have said makes a lot of sense and I would like to put your reply on my Blog if you agree because I believe it shows that the UKCC is an open organisation and is prepared to listen to people opinionsYour comments on a licensing are very reassuring and to some point I agree that a professional attitude in sport should be a criteria but I do not like the word regulation. Many martial Arts Coaches may want tighter regulation but I sometimes wonder Why they want tighter regulation is it to protect the Public or is to Promote themselves and limit the opposition. In the past when Martial Arts did have an umbrella body like the old Martial Arts Commission many a time the question arose "who regulates the regulators" With regard to child abuse some of the cases have been within the various governing body for sport, To assume any professional regulation would eliminate child abuse is wrong.Insurance is one way of bringing people into line in my own little organisation all Coaches must have insurance other wise they do not coach period, if they do not attend an annual course there insurances is suspendedIt is disappointing the NGB's did not agree to a generic coaching system This in my mind would have solved all problems especially in the Martial Arts world, it seems the NGB's want hold to their power base, with ideas that to teach a sport you need to learn the sport first. This in my mind is so out dated and one can understand why British Sports do not do better in the International scene, I wonder if learning the sport first before you learn to coach could be a hindrance because you are already stuck with pre conceived ideas.One of my concern is not so much with the Martial Arts because to teach you will have to have some practical knowledge of the art you are teaching but what of the Dad who starts kicking a ball around with some kids and the next moment he has formed a team and maybe his only experience has been his enthusiasm, his knowledge grows the more he does, and remember a lot of sports clubs start up that way, these type of people may never have thought of coaching anything they got involved by accident they in many cases become the back bone of sports clubs. I very much doubt they would be involved if they had to attend a course and pay. My other concern is for existing coaches surely any new scheme must value what is commonly called Grandfather rights, I have 40 coaches in my organisation who have said they would not continue coaching is they were compelled to take yet another exam.Many of them have asked the question who will examine the examiners, some of these coaches like myself have been coaching at a very high level for nearly 40 years can any sport afford to lose that wealth of knowledge.It may seem I am anti the UKCC this is far from the truth but I do not think it has yet to come up with the ideal formula but then again you have to start some where.The pursuit of knowledge should be voluntary not through legislation or litigation. Educating the public should be the way forward but sometimes the public do not want be educated that is the hub.
Posted by Martin Clarke at 7:13 PM

0 comments

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Is Anonymity Right?

The internet has proved to be of great help to mankind, especially in its ability to promote different ideas and points of views but it also opened the door to charlatans. As of yet it seems people can write what they want and say what they with little chance of being sued, this can and does lead to people making outlandish false accusations. It is not too bad when these individuals give their name you can respond but a lot of forums allow you the right to anonymity, this I believe is wrong and should be stopped.
As I have mentioned before this has happened to me through a web site entitled “Judo Forum” Someone calling themselves Chichorei Kano, using the Judo Forum has told a pack of lies and I made the mistake of replying to him, where I corrected all his lies he replied with even more unsubstantiated information, friends of mine rallied to my side but each thread gave him a chance to spew out more bile but this time it was just against me but many other judo Stars like Paul Radburn for example.So who is he, obviously some one who dislikes me and is jealous of my success, although I believe I know who he is I would not name and shame him till I was 100% sure. The most important thing is that should anyone get involved with any forum that allows people to hide their identity? The answer must be NO especially those forums who given so called expert advice as any researcher will tell you must always be able to check your source.
Needless to say I shall not involve myself with "Judo Forum" untill they take a Moral Stand against this abuse of the Net and advise everyone to do the same.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

IS the UKCC a mistake

The United Kingdom Coaching Certificate has caused lots of controversy over the last few years especially in the Judo World, where dissenters were suggesting that it was an indirect way to eliminate Judo Bodies not affiliated to the Governing body in this case the BJA. If you read the article below and a UKCC became a legal requirement to coach Judo they may have point.

What is more important is that the UKCC have lost a unique opportunity to improve Coaching in the UK. Many years ago I was very friendly with that Great Coach Geoff Gleeson; he was one of the founders of the British Association of National Coaches, Academy of Coaching, Guild of Sports Internationalist he also helped in the formation of the National Coaching Foundation organisations I belonged to as well. Geoff always said that Coaching was an art form in its own right; I did not always agree with the use of the word art but totally agreed that Coaching was a subject in its own right. He tried to bring along the idea that you could learn to Coach and subsequently Coach with out knowing the details of any specific Sport, this why both of us formed the Academy of Coaching.

I was hoping and under the impression that the UKCC was going to be an umbrella group for people to learn how to Coach. You would first learn to Coach take the relevant exam and then go to a sport with this qualification, ask what the technical aspects are required to become a coach in that particular Sport. In Judo it would be relatively simple i.e. Level 1 1st Dan plus pass a referees exam. Individual could become a Professional Coach, Coaching many different Sports, they could use this qualification to create employment for themselves for example with Schools haemorrhaging teachers they would be an asset to any school. The Coaching Award could be used in various sports but also in the Arts i.e. Drama, Musical Instrument and before you condemn when the Academy of Coaching was in existence we had many Seminars from people who worked in the Arts and the similarities when Coaching a student were the same.

I have supported a UKCC but if it is to become a legal requirement it could become a big stick to beat people into place and that will with the proposed pricing drive people away from Coaching which in turn lead to less people doing sport. Lets hope this will not happen.

Yours

Martin Clarke


Hi Martin

Many thanks for your e-mail. Unfortunately, it is not possible to take a UKCC without doing so in a given sport. This is for a number of reasons. Firstly, each sport is responsible for organising their own courses and their are no generic courses run independently, eg by sports coach UK. Secondly, whilst the UKCC is a generic course in the sense that it ensures that quality and consistency are maintained between sports and across levels the technical requirements, style and organisation of each sports UKCC levels are significantly different.

The courses have been designed by the sports, in consultation with sports coach UK, and are tailored to the needs of the specific sport. Whilst their are instances where qualification in one sport at a given level may (via the Accreditation of Prior Experience and Learning scheme that is being introduced) be considered relevant by another (eg allowing you to take Level 2 in one sport, having completed Level 1 in another) this is for the sport to decide in the given instance. And you would initially require UKCC Level 1 or equivalent in a given sport.

However, recently Multi-Skills clubs have been introduced, which focus on non-sport specific physical activity and for which there are courses available. However, these are not assessed courses and are not linked to UKCC levels.

I hope this is of some help. If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

Many thanks
Alistair Hay Business Support Officer sports coach UK 114 Cardigan Road Headingley Leeds LS6 3BJ Tel: 01132 043523/2245 (internal) E-Mail: ahay@sportscoachuk.org

Should Girls Fight Boys

The IBF meeting of Coaches in January should be very interesting; one of the main subjects will be Junior Judo. Do we have smaller age bands i.e. 7/8 year old with weights cats and grade bands, do we change the rules of Judo, etc. Plus do we allow Girls to compete with Boys in competition? A Mini Mon competition was held in Dartford which done this and it attracted 100 players and according to Trevor Davies 6th Dan was very successful. I personally have my doubts, although in this PC dominated society Men and Women are supposedly equal, I still feel if a boy loses to a girl they were be ridiculed by their friends and this would be a loss to Judo. "Yes you say but they all train together in the club" that may be true but in my case when I taught youngsters it was due to necessity not choice. There may have only been a couple of boys in the class so they would have to fight each and it is the contesting that I feel is the problem Kata and techniques demonstration is OK. Boys and Girls are not only physically different but emotionally different and that will be always the case until the Human race changes where one human being has female plus male genitals and can reproduce themselves like an amoeba, no matter what the PC Brigade say.

My other concern is the way we award medals, I refer to the fact if there is only two Judoka in a weight class both win a medal, it is a fact that there are youngsters who have a hatful of medals and never won a match, this may be good for the club as it looks good in the papers that the club has won lots of medals but is good for the child or good for Judo? I think not.
Firstly it is unfair on other children in weight groups, what of the youngsters who wins 3 out 5 fights and get nothing is that fair.
Secondly Young people should learn that in life you have to work for something once again modern society has produced a whole generation believing it is there right to have anything they want regardless if they have earned it, do we in Judo have to help that attitude?
Thirdly, one of my senior grades suggested that should everything be about winning, well sorry if you enter a competition the idea is to win. You may enter at first to gain experience but ultimately the idea is to win, life is about competing.
Fourthly because I have these views does not mean a child should not be rewarded, every child should get a participation medal or certificate, I realise that for some children it quite a courageous act to enter a competition, not all are suited to be competitive but that should not be an excuse not to compete. Judo is as much about a person conquering his own fears this can only make them a stronger individual.

One I tried some years ago was to have a JUDO MEET we invited children who never entered a competition to come along to fight other children like themselves. They were matched on the day, they then fought under competition conditions but at the end of the day there was no big medal presentation, there was no pools etc every child had three matches and every child was presented with a medal. None of them including their parents went away the idea they were champions yet everyone enjoyed themselves. I doubt if this would work at all levels.

I would welcome a reply of what people think, I will publish all sensible replies

Sunday, December 09, 2007

It seems Chichorei Kano's attack on me has caused quite a stir, I was beginning to think this guy had a crush on me by the ammount of time he spends writing about me, but no it looks like I will not be recieving roses. For according to emails I have recieved from other people who use the forum he is rude and insulting to most people, in the past he has questioned Percy Poole's (father of Mick) 3rd Dan issued before WW2. in his latest Diatribe he riducles Judo legend Paul Radburn, he then tries to make fun of Sombo Wrestlers by saying if he had to dress up in their typical outfits. The Fashion Police would immediately arrest me.
Why does he behave like he does he obviously has followed Judo, so why not use his real name? has he got something to hide, has he a murky black past who is to know. You can just imagine Instructors warning their Judoka "If you do not behave yourself Chichorei will come an get you"

Lets make a challenge to all those budding detectives out there, who can be the first to find his identity

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Colin Carrott responds To Judo Rule changes

Hello Martin,

I write in response to your recent Blog site article and the IBF coaches revalidation course in January. You pose some interesting questions as to the future of IBF refereeing and interpretation of rules, and I would like to add to this discussion, with some thoughts of my own.

1) Should we stick to the letter of the IJF rule book, follow BJA guidelines or introduce new or different rules to try to modernise Judo?

With the success of the under 8’s rule, I believe this shows that we can be innovative and that we should not be afraid to take the initiative. The experiment at The YJC 50th. Anniversary competition seemed to work well (i.e., entering ground work can only be done, following a successful scoring throw), perhaps this should be the first rule change to be adopted? Unfortunately, I can’t see that following BJA guide lines on age banded competition will work for us, as we just don’t have the numbers for this to work. Surely we would end up with only a couple of competitors in each pool?
If we are to introduce rule changes, either permanently or on an experimental basis, we must communicate this on entry forms, so that there is no confusion on the day, for different associations. Referees also need to meet regularly before competitions so that everybody understands and works uniformly on the interpretation of the rules, both old and new. I know that we try and do this already, but usually, there are only half a dozen officials present, then, through-out the day, others are co-opted to sit in the corners or take charge in the middle, who have not been at the meeting.

2) Scoring system.

I can’t see that changing the scoring system will work. If you try and mix the Japanese terminology with a numerical score, this surely will only confuse things even more. How do you explain to a parent, or novice judoka, that they have 2 Yukos and 10 points, but have just lost to their opponent who has one waz-ari and 7 points?
Points scoring only, would work if the scores were accumulative. But I don’t think this would attract players, as they would feel that for some reason, it was not “traditional Judo”.

3) Referee’s Uniforms

I for one, would love to see referee’s wearing something less formal then a blazer and tie. However, we have got to have something that is the same, worn by all. We have a lot of good, young referees at the moment, who generally look smart in suits, but every-one is wearing something different. Whatever uniform is decided upon, it must be fairly cheap and easily available, as many people just will not go to the expense of buying it. I like the look and appearance of wrestling officials, but perhaps, again, we should try to be different? How about, for example, trying the traditional referees outfit, but with a modern twist? White judo gi trousers, with either a red sombo or green kurash style jacket? Referees could then wear their judo grade belt, or even one of a neutral colour? Nearly every-one will already have this clothing, even if they have not worn it for a while!

4) Grading

Maybe we should take grading a step further, and recognise competition. A judoka could be of a certain grade, but have letters after his/her belt description. E.g. a blue belt E.C. would be a European Competitor. N.C. for National Competition player, E.M. European medallist, N.M. National medallist etc.

Colin Carrott.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

New Rules For Judo

JUDO RULES

For the first time I could not attend the IBF UK National Judo Championships, I am told it was extremely well attended and well run, well done to all concerned. I am still waiting for the organisers to send in a report with photos when they come I will publish them on the IBF Website.

Two things were brought to my attention one was dress standards and secondly was the change of rules. It seems that some officials were under the misconception that the Junior Rules used at the Young Judo Club 50th Anniversary Championships i.e. “You can only enter Ne Waza if you had scored with a throw” were now standard IBF rules, this is not the case. IJF rules with the IBF amendments still are to be used in all IBF competitions.

Yet this mistake was enthusiastically welcomed by the majority of people present, so that leads me to the question “Should IBF UK abide by IJF rules or adopt their own”. As most of you are aware Judo in Europe is on a down turn and lots of very experienced Judoka and associations are looking for ways to revitalise our Grappling Art, IBF members have been very lucky in the fact that members also participate in other grappling sports such as Sombo, Kurash, Belt Wrestling and CombatSombo Wrestling, they have seen how different styles and their scoring system works. I have been involved in Judo for 52 years and the one thing I have come to realise that a lot of Judoka consider they and Judo superior to every other Grappling Sport, as Judoka they think that participating in other styles some how will create a virus in Judo which will destroy it.

Rules of Judo should be a topic at the IBF Coaches seminar in January and here a few ideas:

1) Continue using the rule where you have to score before Ne Waza, for years people have moaned that the high throws have gone and children just drag each other to the floor. The BJA concept of dealing with this was to restrict the amount of time in Ne Waza, this has led to competitions with hardly any Ne Waza. I was at the Kent International and if you did not get hold, arm lock etc in 5 seconds you were stood up, for those who understand Ne Waza will know it can take time to manoeuvre your opponent in position. After all in Tachi Waza you do not attack every 5 seconds.
2) Should we change the scoring system do away with Japanese terminology and use accumulative scoring, you may remember I tried this 15 years ago with some success. If we done this we could get the referees to dress the same as Olympic Wrestling Officials i.e. White tracksuits with coloured sleeves this is less intimidating and officious then wearing a Blazer.
3) For those who wish to keep the Japanese scoring what about indicating the points first then the Judo signal i.e. 1pt indicated closed fist with thumb raised followed by the Koka sign etc
4) Coloured Gi and Judo boots
These are just a few ideas but can I say I have just return from the World Sombo Championships and this was the most exciting Jacket Grappling event I have seen in 20 years, big high throws, brilliantly executed arm locks, continual action throughout the whole competition and most importantly easy to understand scoring. The British Sombo Federation was asked to take a Press Officer with the team, he had never seen any form of Jacket Grappling including Judo, within 30 minutes he could understand the scoring and by the second day he was questioning referee scores could this happen in Judo?

So I say to the entire Judo Fraternity wake up and smell the coffee other wise Judo will die.

I would welcome you constructive comments either via the Blog or by direct email


Martin Clarke 8th Judo Sombo Grandmaster

Inappropriate Clothing

Dear IBF Members

I am told the IBF National Judo Championships were very successful, so I would like to thank everyone involved especially Ian Parker and his Club members who made the whole thing possible.

The IBF did however receive several complaints about the hygiene of some competitors, make up and inappropriate clothing. Can I bring to your attention?
1) All competitors must have clean bodies, hair, finger nail etc.
2) All competitors must have a clean gi which must be worn in the correct manner.
3) Female competitors must wear white T Shirts and shorts under their trousers
4) Make up and piercing rings etc are not allowed
These rules are fundamental for the Health & Safety of the individual and their opponent.


Yours Faithfully


Martin Clarke 8th Dan
IBF President UK

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Could the UKCC be the demise of Judo?

Could the UKCC be the demise of Judo?

As I have reported before there seems to be some sort of unity happening in the Judo World, I refer of course to the fact that the British Judo Association has now opened their doors to all Judoka regardless of there Judo affiliation. This has been a bold move but it has also been a move born out of necessity as Judo in the UK is in rapid decline and Unity is the only way for it to survive.

This brings me on to the subject of the United Kingdom Coaching Certificate (UKCC), this organisation has been set up to introduce some conformity and regulation within British Sport, which hopefully will improve Coaching Generally throughout the UK. This to some is quite a novel idea but it not really a new concept because that Great British Judo Coach Geoff Gleeson some 30 years ago formed the British Association of National Coaches, where National Coaches from all sports came to together to share their knowledge and experiences in Coaching. When this folded Geoff and I formed the Academy of Coaching, some of the members the AOC went on to form The Guild of Sports Internationalists, sadly to say both are now defunct.

So as you can see I am all in favour of improving our Coaching Skills but there are several things that worry me:
1) The price! although I have said that Judo is under priced and under valued, I wonder if the proposed pricing structure is just “the straw that broke the camels back” £200 for level 1 plus 30 hours learning requirement, Level 2 £400 88 hours learning requirement, Level 3 in excess of £800 plus 307 learning requirement. These figures are taken from an article written by Dave Duffy BJA National Coaching Officer. To be fair to the BJA they are looking for organisations to help fund this new UKCC but what if they can not get any help, can small Judo Clubs of 20 members afford this? I have my doubts.
2) What of Grandfather Rights (This is where people who have coached for many years are given the award). I personally started Coaching when I was 19 years that is a total 38 years in that time I was a member of BANC, NCF founded the A.o.C, member of BISC , formed IBF Coaching Effective Scheme along side Geoff Gleeson 9th Dan, was a KCC Coach for 9 years do all these qualifications and experience amount to nothing? For me personally I am not worried as due to injury I do very little coaching but I know of hundreds if not thousands of Judoka who have given up their time, effort and in many cases their money to teach and promote Judo. Can we afford to lose them? I do not think so.
3) Some people want the UKCC to become a legal requirement to Coach and the way this Labour Government obsession with interfering with our lives and bringing into legislation laws to control every aspect of lives also with Prime Minister Gordon Brown practically handing over our Nation to the EU this could be a very likely possibility. Some say that this is not possible as will infringe our Human Rights to choose, once again this could be a possibility but like most things if this Government & the EU want something like most dictatorship they normally get it. That way will be using Health & Safety legislation, you can just imagine the spin from some Government Minister her is an example of what they could say “Any one can teach Judo or Sport in the UK , we after all a free country, the only criteria is that they competent” . Great but what is competent? Of course a UKCC. Insurance companies will eventually insist that you have a UKCC.

The UKCC will not only affect Judo Coaches but all Sports Coaches, hopefully I am wrong and the UKCC becomes a symbol of light for Judo and sport. Yet one wonders with Sports participation in rapid decline in the UK shouldn’t we be trying to promote Sport/Judo rather then putting in obstacles. Sport/Judo in the UK has relied mainly on those volunteers who are prepared to help their sport without any pay or reward, will the UKCC stop this? That is up to you to decide.


Martin Clarke 8th Dan Judo Sittingbourne Kent
Grandmaster Sombo, World Masters Judo Champion
World Sombo & Jiu Jitsu Silver Medallist